Weilang exclaimed, “Ruby?! What are you doing here?”
Before he could finish, Lu Pei dashed up the stairs in a few quick strides, stopping right in front of Yuan Que. He grabbed his collar with both hands and snapped, “I told you to come pick me up! Did you not hear me? I tried talking to you nicely and you deliberately ignored me! That round thing on your neck, is it just decoration to make you taller?!”
Yuan Que’s collar was clenched in his grip, his gaze lowered.
Worried he might suddenly lash out, Weilang hurriedly warned, “Hey, Ruby, be careful! Yuan Que attacked me! Don’t,-”
“Who told you to act recklessly?!” Lu Pei scolded as he struck him, kicking his shin and punching his shoulder and chest.
Yuan Que didn’t dodge. To him, Lu Pei’s strength didn’t warrant any defense. All he needed to do was tighten his core and keep his muscles tensed; the blows landing on him felt like nothing more than light raindrops.
Lu Pei punched him for quite a while. The man’s body was like solid iron and his own hands began to ache from the impact. Furious, he snapped, “Fine, ignore my calls but you even blocked me?!”
“I didn’t,” Yuan Que said. “I turned it off.”
“You’re not allowed to cause trouble for Lu Xun.”
As if he hadn’t heard a word, Yuan Que continued walking downstairs. Lu Pei threw his arms around him and sat down, dragging him in place to stop him from moving forward. When Yuan Que tried to pry his hands or arms loose by force, Lu Pei immediately cried out, “It hurts! I’m going to break something!”
As a result, Yuan Que couldn’t move at all. With a dark, impatient expression, he locked eyes with Lu Pei.
Weilang: “?” He definitely hadn’t treated him like this just now.
“What grudge do you have against Lu Xun?” Lu Pei demanded. “Tell me the reason.”
“You want to protect him,” Yuan Que said.
Lu Pei fixated on his motive and shot back, “Why do you want to kill him?”
Yuan Que’s voice was so cold it seemed to crystallize into ice, each word enunciated slowly. “You’re going to go with him.”
“Who’s going with him?!” Lu Pei exclaimed in shock. “I already said I’ll stay with you!”
“He invited you. You agreed. You betrayed me.”
“I refused!!”
“You wanted to betray me.”
Weilang jolted. This was getting intense but clearly not a conversation meant for a third party. Without a word, he slipped into the office next door, tactfully removing himself.
“I didn’t! Stop accusing me!” Lu Pei shouted angrily.
He threw another flurry of punches at Yuan Que, reddening his own fists first. Seeing this, Yuan Que grabbed his wrist, pulled a cord from his pocket and cut it into two pieces.
Realizing he intended to tie him up, Lu Pei struggled with all his strength but Yuan Que’s single handed restraint was as firm as iron shackles, his hands couldn’t move at all.
Out of options and considering that a headbutt might knock himself out first, Lu Pei made a split second decision. He opened his mouth and bit down on Yuan Que’s face.
Hard.
Yuan Que froze on the spot, stunned, as if he had just been kissed.
Taking advantage of that moment of stillness, Lu Pei released his bite and pulled his hands free.
“Can you listen to me now?” Lu Pei said. “I didn’t betray you and I don’t plan to abandon you but Lu Xun is my family. If you kill him, then we become enemies.”
Yuan Que touched his left cheek. Two small indentations marked the skin, bite marks forming an oval shape. A moment ago, Lu Pei’s lips had pressed there, leaving behind a faint trace of warmth, almost sticky.
Hearing Lu Pei’s words, he should have been furious, should have exploded with anger immediately yet the sensation of those marks and the lingering touch of lips confused him, wrapping around his anger and leaving him unsure how to react.
Like a heavy machine stuck in mud, unable to find a way out.
“Did you hear me?” Lu Pei pressed.
After a long pause, Yuan Que nodded reluctantly. “…Mm.”
“Promise me you won’t kill Lu Xun.”
“Not today.”
“Hey!”
Yuan Que looked extremely displeased but relented. “…Not for now.”
A burst of hurried footsteps approached. Weilang came running back, slightly out of breath. “Something’s happening in the medication room across the building.”
In the VIP suites of the guest ward, each room had its own dedicated medication preparation room. The window was open and through binoculars, one could roughly see the nurses’ movements inside.
“There’s a tray lined with blue non woven fabric, with six small vials on it. The nurse looked sneaky, like she swapped one of them,” Weilang said. “Could someone have bribed her to harm Lu Xun?”
Lu Pei took the mini binoculars and quickly spotted the vials Weilang mentioned. They were standard glass vials.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Well… I feel like that’s what happened,” Weilang said.
If Lu Xun’s enemies lined up for execution, one per day, the schedule would probably be booked solid for an entire year.
After a brief moment of thought, Lu Pei said, “Most likely. We can’t let her succeed.”
He moved quickly down the stairs. Weilang immediately followed. Yuan Que trailed behind with a sour expression, deliberately dragging his steps, making it clear how unwilling he was to participate in rescuing Lu Xun.
“I think the VIP building has multiple layers of smart security, it might trigger alarms…” Weilang said.
“It’s fine.”
Lu Pei took out a small metal piece from his bag, tossing it lightly before catching it. It was a ring like device, resembling a pull tab, something Lin Qiuge had made.
“We’ve got a key.”
……….
Echo Tavern.
The busiest hours had passed. Deep into the night, the band had already left and most patrons had gone, leaving only a few who drank to drown themselves.
“Is Weilang still not back?” Wen Tiannan asked.
“No,” Jiang Gelei replied. “He’s at Sunny Day Hospital.”
All the underground district’s media had gathered at the hospital entrance. Naturally, many followers were also staying overnight, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lu Xun.
Jiang Gelei remembered the day Lu Xun had been escorted to Sinkport, several streets had been packed with spectators. Weilang had been at the very front, acting no different from a fan chasing a celebrity.
Wen Tiannan immediately pressed, “Did you send him, or did he hear something?”
“He went on his own,” Jiang Gelei said, now sensing something unusual. “Is that a problem?”
“Not exactly,” Wen Tiannan said thoughtfully. “In the past couple of days, Lu Xun did something, he nearly dismantled an entire smuggling route Zhou Zu had just established. That benefits us but Zhou Zu probably can’t sleep at night now.”
“…The smuggling route for Forget me Water?” Jiang Gelei asked.
Wen Tiannan neither confirmed nor denied it, merely raising his glass and taking a sip.
Seracibin was known as liquid gold but getting a share from pharmaceutical companies wasn’t easy. Zhou Zu had spent the past half year preparing for it. A certain official he had bribed was a crucial link in the transportation chain but Lu Xun had used some method to get that official suspended and investigated.
Since such investigations were lengthy, the authority tied to that position would be frozen for at least half a year. That meant Zhou Zu either had to wait optimistically for six months, or rebuild the entire route.
Meanwhile, the anti Seracibin movement on the surface was gaining momentum. Under public condemnation and opposition attacks, pharmaceutical companies were overwhelmed. Zhou Zu’s support would be limited.
And the leader of that movement… was Lu Xun.
“Zhou Zu probably won’t make a move,” Wen Tiannan concluded, then said to Jiang Gelei, “But Weilang and Qiuge are both there. Go to the hospital, just in case.”
……….
Inside the VIP building, doctors and nurses wore caps and masks with meticulous precision. This made it easier for Lu Pei and the others to blend in, so long as they dressed the same, no one would suspect them.
Yuan Que knocked out two passing doctors and a nurse, locking them inside a restroom in the administrative building.
“Damn it, why am I the one wearing the nurse uniform?” Weilang complained.
Lu Pei buttoned up the top of his white coat and reassured him, “It’s not like it’s women’s clothing.”
“It is a female nurse’s uniform!”
“You’re shorter than me.”
Weilang had no comeback. Swallowing his humiliation, he changed clothes.
With Lin Qiug’s tech, the disguised trio successfully passed two security doors and entered the VIP building, heading straight for the third floor medication room.
The usually reliable keycard failed this time, the medication room was secured with a passcode lock.
They retreated to a blind spot between the restroom and the fire exit, waiting for an opportunity.
Yuan Que still deliberately kept his distance, standing on the landing between two flights of stairs. Whenever Lu Pei glanced his way, he responded with a look full of disdain and resistance.
At least he wasn’t wandering off. Lu Pei focused on the task at hand and ignored him.
“I hear something!” Weilang whispered.
Looking over, they saw Lu Xun push open his ward door.
Lu Pei wanted to warn him but seeing the prison guard behind him, he held back.
Five minutes later, a nurse holding a clipboard walked toward the medication room.
“Follow her!” Lu Pei urged.
“I’m on it.”
Weilang tried to mimic a woman’s walk, swaying his hips exaggeratedly. Lu Pei crouched by the door, took one look and nearly burst out laughing. “You’re twisting yourself into a pretzel…”
Before he could finish laughing, a gust of air brushed past his ear. A hand clamped over his mouth.
The palm was calloused, rough and warm against his cheek.
Someone was behind him.
Every hair on Lu Pei’s body stood on end. His attempt to shout turned into muffled sounds beneath the hand.
A sharp whoosh,
In the blink of an eye, he was yanked sideways, falling back.
When he blinked again, a bullet hole had appeared in the fire door in front of him.
At the moment he was seized, Yuan Que had fired at the back of the attacker’s head but the person moved as if they had eyes behind them, dragging Lu Pei aside and dodging with unbelievable agility.
Lu Pei blinked again and suddenly realized who it was.
“Shh,” said the voice behind him.
The hush came almost simultaneously with the metallic click of a gun being cocked.
The handgun that had just fired from a distance now pressed against Lu Xun’s temple with impossible speed.
“Let him go,” Yuan Que said.
Lu Xun merely glanced at him, unmoved. Instead, he lowered his gaze to Lu Pei, who was held within the circle of his arm.
“What are you doing here?”
“Someone switched your medication to harm you,” Lu Pei said succinctly. “Probably bribed a nurse… Yuan Que, lower your gun. Don’t let it misfire.”
“I know,” Lu Xun said. “Stay out of this.”
“You know?”
“Mm.” Seeing him calm down, Lu Xun released him.
Lu Pei frowned. Thinking of the mass of reporters outside, he asked, “That nurse swapping the medicine… was that actually arranged by you? Are you planning to use the media to release something? Who are you targeting?”
“Take care of yourself. Don’t wander around. A lot of places underground aren’t safe,” Lu Xun said.
“Targeting Zhou Zu? Targeting Seracibin? The pharmaceutical company? Or someone else?” Lu Pei pressed.
When Lu Xun didn’t want to answer, no one could pry an extra word from him. After checking on his younger brother, he finally shifted his attention to the gun pressed against his temple and to Yuan Que holding it.
Even with the dark muzzle pointed at him, as though it could take his life at any second, Lu Xun showed no sign of alarm. His gaze moved past the weapon, addressing Yuan Que in the tone of someone reprimanding a subordinate.
“He’s overly curious and often acts irrationally. You should restrain him appropriately, not follow him unconditionally.”
“Get lost,” Yuan Que replied coldly. “You’re not qualified to give me orders.”
Lu Xun’s expression remained as indifferent as ever. A bullet couldn’t unsettle him and threats from a reckless youth certainly wouldn’t either.
To him, this was nothing more than one of his younger brother’s followers. He couldn’t be bothered to take offense at Yuan Que’s insolence.
Yuan Que continued, “Otherwise, he would have been widowed today.”
“Widowed?” For once, Lu Xun seemed momentarily at a loss. He frowned slightly. “When did he get married?”
His tone was too flat, almost declarative rather than inquisitive. To Yuan Que, it sounded like a statement: We’ve been married long before you knew.
A display of superiority.
Yuan Que could no longer endure it.
“Lu Xun, Francis,” he said slowly and calmly, enunciating each word. “You should be grateful I promised not to kill you today.”